Once upon a time in Jerusalem, on the occasion of Independence Day.
And this time – the secret tank company in Jerusalem, 1967.
After the War of Independence, armistice agreements were signed between Jordan and Israel.
As part of the agreement signed in 1949, Israel was forbidden to keep tanks and heavy weapons in Jerusalem.
In the IDF, which had only been born the year before, there was great concern about a rapid escalation with the Jordanians who controlled the eastern side of the city, which would require a rapid intervention, and that’s where the idea came up to send a company of tanks into the city secretly for a quick response in case the situation quickly escalated.
The decision fell through and a new tank company was assigned to go up to the city.
Since tanks are not known for their emaciated and thin bodies, the tanks were hidden inside huge wooden containers of the Electric Company, and loaded on transport trucks to Jerusalem.
The diversion operation of the UN forces patrolling the area and the road leading to the capital was successful and the carriers arrived in the city with huge wooden crates on their backs.
The carriers arrived in the city in the wee hours of the night and were stored in barracks inside the Schneller camp, where they stayed quietly and secretly, making noises at night of a bicycle,
not to be exposed.
In 1958, it was decided to covertly bring another company of Sherman tanks that were improved in Israel into the city –
the Super Sherman.
In the same year, the 10th Independence Day of our young country was celebrated in the city with an impressive military parade.
Despite the cease-fire agreement and with the mediation of the United Nations, three tank companies entered the city to participate in the parade.
After the parade, only two of the three tank companies glided back on the carriers, and the third tank company remained in the city secretly, hiding the tanks that remained in the city in Camp Schneller and the Sataff Camp, while the UN officers who supervised the transportation of the tanks after participating in the parade were invited to the Independence Day ball that was held Especially in their honor in Jaffa in front of the sea – with a drink, beautiful women and a diverse crowd, to distract them.
And so they secretly rested in the sataff camp Super Sherman tanks on standby for day of command, when they are attached to the Jerusalem Brigade and are on standby in the event of an attack on the supply convoys to the Mount Scopus enclave or in the event of a sudden war.
With the beginning of the Six Day War, the hidden tanks that suddenly appeared in the campaign were the only armored Israeli force in the city.
The tanks that were hidden in the Sataff camp started the journey to the city and joined the tanks that were hidden in the Schneller camp. The companies were divided into two-
One part was attached to the paratroopers brigade and went down towards the Russian compound and the border line surrounding the old city, and the other part fought in the south of the city in the area of the UN governor’s palace, destroyed 3 Jordanian cannons and was a decisive auxiliary force in the occupation of the bell posts and another 2 Jordanian posts.
In the following days of the war, the tanks participated in additional battles to liberate the city while providing massive firepower and cover for the infantry and paratroopers who occupied the old city.
The bravery and courage of the fighters also contributed to the unprecedented achievement of liberating the east of the city and the entire east of the country from the control of the Jordanian army in only six days.
For the company’s performance in battles, the company’s deputy commander, Capt. Rafi Yeshaya, was awarded the exemplary medal.
During the battles, two fighters from the company fell.
May their memory be blessed forever.
In the picture – Super Sherman tanks during the occupation of the Old City in the Six Day War.
The contribution of the hidden tank companies to the war effort was very important to the quick and decisive victory of the Six Day War and was kept hidden from the stories of the battles for many years.
Many years later, after the signing of the peace agreement with Jordan, senior Jordanian officers who met for the first time with senior IDF officers told of the great surprise that the Jordanian army had with the rapid appearance of the tanks at such an early stage of the war, and the great contribution that the secret tank companies had to the withdrawal of the Jordanians in the battle of Ammunition Hill and other outposts.
Those were the days of “with ruses you shall make war”, forward planning and creative thinking outside the box.
And today – the Shanler camp has long since become an American ultra-orthodox neighborhood and the Sataff has become a beautiful green nature reserve,
And only our enemies, with chilling consistency as in every generation, remained with the same longing and unfulfilled obsession to destroy us and push our feet from the land of our ancestors until the last among us, with our heads separated from the body.
Our enemies, who change over the generations, have never shown any special interest in whether the Jews were religious or secular, left or right before they did and still do these days literally everything they can to kill and destroy us.
They only place in front of us a mirror for deep introspection, soul-searching and a reminder of the required inner unity and shared destiny of all of us.
Dedicated with love to the memory of those who fall in all the wars of Israel, the martyrs who sacrificed their lives with courage and bravery for the people who live in Zion.
May we gain true independence and freedom, may all our fighters return home safely together with our abducted brothers, may we find the link and unifier between us and may we gain years of peace and security.
Shabbat of peace and Happy Independence Day to far and near from Jerusalem.
Photography – Aharon Zuckerman
